Finding My Writer's Voice by Reading

So, this post is a little different from the ones I’ve been writing. Instead of talking in general terms about writing ideas, I thought I’d share a more personal experience: finding my own writing voice.

What is your writing voice?

Pretty much exactly what you think it is. When you read something, either a blog post or a novel, you’re listening to the author tell the story.

Of course, if it’s a novel being told from a character’s point of view, that’s different so let’s ignore it for now.

What makes a great writer stand out is their authorial voice. We can usually spot a passage by Hemmingway or Austen if we see one, based just on style. And not just because “It is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a large fortune must be in want of a wife” is a famous first line. 

When I finally admitted to myself that I had probably done enough research to start working on the first draft of my book, it suddenly occurred to me that I had no idea what tone I was going to take, what my author’s voice was.

I knew a few things. I knew I was writing something that I hoped would be read by the general public (although if historians I admire, like Lucy Worsley or Tracy Borman happened to read it and by some miracle didn’t think it was awful, that would be amazing too). 

That’s important because it meant I didn’t need to sound super scholarly. This is good, because although I technically am an archivist, a museum curator, and a historian, I’m a huge fan of not writing to sound super scholarly. I like writing that can be read by anyone.

So step one: identify my audience. Check.

Step two: what do I like to read?

When I read nonfiction I enjoy books that really engage the reader. I started looking at my shelves. One of the suggestions I always read is that you should compare what you are planning to write to other, similar books. How are they structured? How are they written? That sort of thing.

This was a problem because I haven’t found a book similar to what I’m trying to write. Was that what was making it hard to find my voice as an author or was it first draft jitters?

I love books like Tracy Borman’s Henry VIII and the Men Who Made Him; Neil Buttery’s Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald England’s Most Influential Housekeeper; and Kate Strasdin’s The Dress Diary of Mrs Anne Sykes. But despite being well written, none of these were a style for me. Maybe because they were mostly biographies.

Then in stepped Emma Southon’s A Rome of One’s Own: The Forgotten Women of the Roman Empire. I’d been looking forward to it since I heard it was coming out. I devour everything Emma Southon writes. Her style is equal parts snarky British humor, fun coffee- chat-with-your-history-bestie, utter feminist slap-upside-the-head to ancient Roman hypocrisy, and utterly fabulous.

Somewhere in the middle of reading Rome and Natalie Haynes’ delightful Divine Might it occurred to me: I was allowed to write like this. Like I was having a conversation with my reader. Where my humor and history nerdiness occasionally showed through. Where maybe it was obvious I was excited by what I was talking about and I wanted to engage the reader like I was sitting across from them at a coffee shop and we were just talking. 

I’m not saying my style is theirs. I’m not saying I’m anywhere as good as they are. I’m not. 

What I am saying is that when I had this aha moment about what my writing voice was, I went from staring at a blank page thinking that I had no idea how to put down my ideas, to actually being able to pick up a pen and start writing.

I always see quotes about how important it is if you’re a writer to also read, and I’ve always agreed with them.

But I’ve always thought about this advice in terms of seeing how other writers structure books, character decisions, or plot points. It never occurred to me until I was looking for my voice that reading books I loved would give me permission to turn my ‘normal’ voice into my writer’s voice as well. 

It’s like Alexa Martin says: seeing what you like in someone else’s writing may influence your own, just don’t lose your voice trying to copy theirs. Stay true to yourself.